The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1887-05-20

a
steady
81 could not be tempted as you are"
The lion thinks it is so strange that the
fish should be caught with hook. The
fish thinks it is so strange that the ion
should be caught with a trap. You see
some man with cold, phlegmatic tenn
permanent, and you say
81 suppose that man has not any tempta-
tion."
Ask the aged Christian whether he is
never assaulted of the powers Of dark
ness If you think you have conquered
the power of temptation, you are very
much mistaken.
A man who wanted a throne pretended
he was very weak and sickly, and if he
was elevated he would soon be gone. He
crawled upon his crutches to the throne,
and, having attained it, he was strong
again. He said:
SIT was well for me, while / was look
ing for the scepter of another, that
should stoop; but now that I have found
it, why should stoop any longer2" and he
threw away his crutches and was we'll
again.
How illustrative of the power of temp
tationl You think it is weak and Grip
pied influence; but give it chance and it
will become tyrant In your soul; it will
grind you to atoms. No man has finally
and forever overcome temptation until he
has Left the world. But what are you to
do with these temptati5nsa Tell every
body about thems All, what a silly man
you would bel
AS well might a commander in a for t
send word to the enemy which gate of the
castle is least barred, as for you to go and
tell what all your failings are, and what
your temptations are The world will
only caricature you, Will only scof at you.
What then must man do9 When the
wave strikes him with terrific dash, shall
he have nothing to hold on to1 In this
contest with ''the world the flesh and the
deviI,' shall a man have no help, no
counsel?
Our text intimates something different.
In those eyes that wept with the Bethany
sisters / see shining hope. In that voice
which spake until the grave broke ana the
widow of Main had back her lost son, and
| the sea slept, and sorrow stupendous woke
| up in the arms of rapture-in that voice /
hear the word of command and the
| promises
Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he will
| sustain thee.
| Why should you carry your burdens any
| longer3 Oh, you weary soul, Christ has
| been in this conflict He says:
My grace shall be sufficient for you. You
shall not be tempted above that you are able
to bear.
| Therefore, with all your temptations,
| go, as these disciples did, and tell Jesus.
Again, / commend the behavior of the
/ disciples to all those who are abused and
/ slandered and prosecuted. When Herod
! put John to death the disciples knew that
! their own heads were not safe. And do
/ you know that every John has a Herod 2
! There are persons in life who do not wis h
| you very well. Through their teeth they
| hiss at you, misinterpret your motives,
| and would be glad to see you upset. No
man gets through life without
having a pummeling Some slander
/ comes after you, horned and husked and
hoofed, to gore and trample you; and
1 what are you to do2 1 tell you plainly
that all who serve Christ must suffer per-
| secution. It is the worst sign in the
| world for you to be able to say
81 haven't an enemy in the world"
A woe is pronounced in the Bible
| against the one of whom every body
| speaks we'll If you are at peace with all
| the world, and every bo1y likes you and
approves your work it is because you are
an idler in the Lords vineyard and are
not doing your duty.
All those who have served Christ, how.
ever eminent, have been maltreated al
some stage of their experience. You
know it was so in the time of George
| Whitefeld, when he stood and invited
men into the kingdom of God. What did
| pronounced him miserable mountebank.
| How was it when Robert Hall stood and
spoke as scarcely any uninspired man
ever did speak of the glories of Heavens
And as he stood Sabbath after Sabbath
preaching on these themes his face
kindled with the glory. John Foster, q
| Christian man, said of this man:
''Robert Hall is only acting, and the
smile on his face is a reflection of his OWE
| vanity"
John Wesley turned all England upslde
down with Christian reform, and yet the
punsters were after him, and the meanest
! jokes in England were perpetrated about
| John Wesley. What is true of the pulpit
| is true of the pew; it is true of the street,
it is true Of the shop and the store. All
who will live godly in Christ Jesus must
| suffer persecution.
And 1 set it down as the very worst sign
in all your Christian experience if you
are, any of you, at peace with the world
The religion of Christ is war. 1t is &
challenge to ''the world, the flesh and the
| devil;" and if you will buckle on the
| whole armor of God you will find a great
host disputing your path between this
and Heaven. But what are you to dC
when you are assaulted and slandered
and abused, as l suppose nearly all of you
have been in your life3 Go out and hunt
up the slanderer7 o, no, silly man
While you are explaining away false
hood in one place fifty people will just
have heard of it in other places.
l counsel you to another course. While
you are not to omit any opportunity oi
setting yourselves right, / want to tel
you this morning of one who had the hard
est things said about HIM, whose sobriety
was disputed, whose mission was scout
ed, whose companionship was denounced
who was pursued as a babe and spit upon
/ man " bo xgyaa hoxvInd af. after n was
dead. 1 will have you go unto him with
your bruised soul, in some humble, child
prayer, saying:
81 see thy wounds-wounds Of head
wounds of feet, wounds of heart Now
look at my wounds, and see what l have
suffered, and through what battles l an
going; and eutreat thee, by those wounds
Of thine, sympathize with me-"
And he will sympathize, and he will
help. Go and tell Jesus
Again, commend the behavior Of the
disciples to all who may have been be
reaved. How many in garb Of mourning
If you could stand at this point where
am standing and look of upon this au
/ dience, how many signals OF sorrow yot
would behold God has his own way o.
taking apart family. We must get out
of the way for coming generations. W.
must get of the stage that others maj
come on, and for this reason there is
long procession reaching down all th'
time into the valley of shadows.
This emigration from time into eternity
is so vast an enterprise that we can no
understand il. Every hour we hear th'
clang Of the sepulchral g ate. The sod
must be broken. The ground must bl
plowed for resurrection harvest. Eter
nifty must be peopled. The dust mus
press our eye1ds.
is appotpted unto all men once TO die.
This emigration from time into eternity
keeps three-fourths of the families of the
earth in desolatioa. The air is rent will
farewells, and the black-tasseled vehicle
Of death rum ble through every street
The body Of the child that was folde'